Photo: Alastair Grant - WPA Pool/Getty Images
Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, has died at the age of 99.“It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen has announced the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle,” Buckingham Palace said.Speaking outside No. 10 Downing Street, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson paid tribute to Prince Philip. “Like the expert carriage driver that he was he helped to steer the royal family and the monarchy so that it remains an institution indisputably vital to the balance and happiness of our national life,” Johnson said.
Prince Philip spent much of this year in hospital receiving treatment for a pre-existing heart condition. He returned to Buckingham Palace in March.
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Labour leader Keir Starmer said: “The United Kingdom has lost an extraordinary public servant in Prince Philip. Prince Philip dedicated his life to our country - from a distinguished career in the Royal Navy during the Second World War to his decades of service as the Duke of Edinburgh.”
Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland, wrote on Twitter: “I am saddened by news that the Duke of Edinburgh has died. I send my personal and deepest condolences - and those of @scotgov and the people of Scotland – to Her Majesty The Queen and her family.”Prince Philip was born in 1921 in Corfu, Greece. He married the then princess Elizabeth in 1947, five years before she became queen.